Arizona Star and Bema Gold-High Grade Gold Drill Intersection Cerro Casale Deposit, Aldebaran Property, Chile.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 1996--BEMA GOLD CORP (VSE: AZS VSE, TSE, AMEX: BGO) Arizona Star Resource Corp. ("Arizona Star") and Bema Gold Corporation ("Bema Gold") are pleased to announce that recently received assays from the drilling of the newly discovered "Deep Oxide Zone" on the Cerro Casale Deposit, on the Aldebaran Property (Arizona Star 51 percent/Bema Gold 49 percent) have revealed unusually high gold values over a significant interval.

Between 787 feet and 925 feet, in reverse-circulation drill hole CC- 176, there is an average of 0.52 oz/t of gold over 138 feet. This same interval also contains copper and silver values averaging 1.5 percent copper and 0.70 oz/t silver.

Drill hole CC-176 ended in material assaying 0.16 oz/t gold and therefore this intercept is open at depth.

Due to the highly fractured nature of the rock between 820 and 827 feet, it was not possible to recover a sample and for the purpose of these results no values have been attributed this interval.

The importance of this single intersection is not yet known particularly as the orientation and therefore the true width, of the mineralized structure is unclear. The style of mineralization, and the mineralogical associations appear to be the same as those reported in portions of the El Indio Mine which is located in a similar geological setting some 120 miles south of Aldebaran.

In addition, other drill holes in the "Deep Oxide Zone" have revealed elevated copper values as a result of secondary enrichment, in a chalcocite blanket, at the interface of the oxide and sulfide zones. These results suggest the possibility of an economic copper/gold deposit underlying the Cerro Casale Gold Deposit. Examples of this are as follows:

              From      To    Interval    Gold     Copper
Drill Hole    (ft)     (ft)     (ft)     (oz/t)    (p.c.)

CC-117       1005      1122     117       0.039     1.10
CC-145       1102      1207     105       0.036     1.04
CC-166        984      1010      26       0.034     1.31

A number of drill holes in the "Deep Oxide" drilling program, including the holes listed above, ended in good grade copper and gold sulfide material.

To further establish the extent of the high grade gold encountered in drill hole CC-176 and to follow up on the possibility of economic grade copper and gold mineralization beneath the Cerro Casale Deposit a diamond drilling program is currently being planned. Due to the potential significance of these results management is evaluating the possibility of initiating this program immediately.

The recently completed drilling program at Cerro Casale is part of a final feasibility study that is planned to be completed in mid 1996. An independent pre-feasibility study completed in 1994 confirmed the existence of an economic gold deposit, exploitable as an open-pit, heap leach mine, with reserves of 2 million ounces of gold. Earlier results from the feasibility study drilling indicate that the Cerro Casale Deposit is larger and higher grade than previously estimated.

Arizona Star, which holds a 51 percent interest in the Aldebaran Property is managed by Bema Gold, its largest shareholder, which currently owns 27 percent of the company. -0-

The Vancouver and Toronto Stock Exchanges neither approve nor disapprove of the information contained in this News Release. Bema Gold Corporation trades on the Vancouver, Toronto and American Stock Exchanges, symbol BGO. Arizona Star Resource Corp. trades on the Vancouver Stock Exchange, symbol AZS.

CONTACT: Bema Gold Corporation

John Anderson, 604/681-8371

800/316-8855

or

Arizona Star Resource Corp.

John Anderson, 604/681-8371

800/316-8855